Southern Africa hit by killer weather
The death toll from a monster storm that struck three southern African countries is heading towards 100 as emergency teams battled to repair damaged infrastructure and help tens of thousands of victims.
Packing torrential rains, Tropical Storm Ana made landfall in Madagascar before ploughing into Mozambique and Malawi.
Rescue workers and authorities across the three countries were still assessing the full extent of the damage.
Madagascar has reported 48 dead, with 18 others killed in Mozambique and 11 in Malawi. But that is feared to rise.
In the three hardest-hit countries, tens of thousands of homes were damaged. Some collapsed under the heavy rain, trapping victims in the rubble.
Swollen rivers washed away bridges and submerged fields, drowning livestock and destroying livelihoods.
In Madagascar, 130,000 people fled their homes. In the capital Antananarivo, schools and gyms were turned into emergency shelters.
In northern and central Mozambique, Ana destroyed 10,000 homes and dozens of schools and hospitals, while downing power lines.
Mozambique’s weather service warned that another storm, named Batsirai, had formed over the Indian Ocean and would make landfall in the coming days.
Up to six tropical cyclones are expected before the rainy season ends in March.
“The situation is of extreme concern,” said UN resident coordinator in Mozambique Myrta Kaulard. “The challenge is titanic, the challenge is extreme,” she said, noting that the storms are hitting “an already extremely vulnerable” region still trying to recover from cyclones Idai and Kenneth that hit the region in 2019.